Denver's Incoming Class Just Set an NHL Draft Record, and the Champs Aren't Done Building

Fresh off hoisting the trophy on the Vegas Strip in April, Denver added four more draft picks to an incoming freshman group that already had scouts talking, and the roster now carries more drafted players than any Pioneers team in history.

From the Strip to a record-setting class

It has been a busy few months for Denver hockey. The Pioneers capped last season by beating Wisconsin at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to claim their 11th national title, and instead of coasting on that trophy through the summer, the program turned right around and landed one of the most decorated freshman groups in college hockey. Four members of the incoming class heard their names called across the two days of the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, and that is before counting the players who were already drafted in prior years and are just now arriving on campus.

Add it all up and Denver will open 2026-27 with 16 players on its roster who have been through an NHL Draft, the most in a single season in program history. That is a jump from 14 a year ago, when the Pioneers already ranked third nationally behind Boston University and Michigan State. For a program that just won it all, restocking with this kind of draft pedigree is exactly how a dynasty stays a dynasty.

Two first-round defensemen headline the class

The headline name is Daxon Rudolph, a right-shot defenseman who went fourth overall to the Buffalo Sabres, the highest a Denver Pioneer has ever been selected. Rudolph spent his draft season with the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders, piling up 78 points on 28 goals and 50 assists across 68 games while running a plus-32 rating as an alternate captain. He kept it going in the playoffs, leading all Raiders and all WHL defensemen with 27 points in 19 games as Prince Albert reached the league championship series.

He will not be the only first-rounder on Denver's blue line. Ryan Lin, captain of the Vancouver Giants, went 21st overall to San Jose after the Sharks traded up six spots to get him. Lin put up 14 goals and 57 points in 53 games this past season and represented Canada internationally, and one scout called him about as skilled a defender as there was in this year's first round. Pairing him with Rudolph gives Denver two freshly drafted, first-round defensemen walking into the same freshman class.

Two more names joining the blue and gold

The Rangers grabbed defenseman Ben MacBeath in the second round at 64th overall out of the Calgary Hitmen, where he led all Hitmen defensemen in scoring with seven goals and 44 assists for 51 points despite only turning 18 in March. Scouts have pointed to his skating and puck-moving as the traits that pushed him into the second round, and he now becomes the third drafted defenseman in Denver's incoming class.

Rounding things out is Mikey Berchild, the lone forward of the group, who went to Carolina in the fourth round at 105th overall. Berchild spent the past two seasons with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program after starting at Shattuck-St. Mary's, and he posted 53 points in 58 games with the U18 team this year while serving as an alternate captain for the United States at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship.

The desert's newest champion keeps the pipeline going

These four join a freshman class that was already loaded before draft weekend. Defenseman Blake Fiddler was a 2025 second-round pick of the Seattle Kraken, forwards Max Heise and Ryan Miller both went in the fifth round of the 2025 draft to San Jose and Pittsburgh, and forward Jack Pridham was a 2024 third-round Chicago pick whose rights have since moved to Tampa Bay. That is eight incoming freshmen, and every single one of them has already been through an NHL Draft.

For fans who watched Denver win it all on the Strip in April, this is the follow-up worth tracking. College hockey keeps showing up in the desert one way or another, whether it is a Frozen Four banner hanging in T-Mobile Arena or another Ice Vegas Invitational date on the calendar. If you have not caught a college game in person yet, there is no better excuse than a champion this loaded to finally grab tickets and see it live.

• Blake Fiddler, D, Seattle Kraken, 2025 second-round pick
• Max Heise, F, San Jose Sharks, 2025 fifth-round pick
• Ryan Miller, F, Pittsburgh Penguins, 2025 fifth-round pick
• Jack Pridham, F, originally a 2024 Chicago pick, now with Tampa Bay

Denver's Eight-Man Freshman Class, All Draft Picks

Every player in Denver's incoming freshman class has already been through an NHL Draft. Here is the full group heading to campus this fall.

1. Daxon Rudolph: D, Buffalo Sabres, No. 4 overall in 2026, out of the Prince Albert Raiders (WHL).
2. Ryan Lin: D, San Jose Sharks, No. 21 overall in 2026, out of the Vancouver Giants (WHL).
3. Ben MacBeath: D, New York Rangers, No. 64 overall in 2026, out of the Calgary Hitmen (WHL).
4. Mikey Berchild: F, Carolina Hurricanes, No. 105 overall in 2026, out of the U.S. National Team Development Program.
5. Blake Fiddler: D, Seattle Kraken, second round in 2025, out of the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL).
6. Max Heise: F, San Jose Sharks, fifth round in 2025, out of the Prince Albert Raiders (WHL).
7. Ryan Miller: F, Pittsburgh Penguins, fifth round in 2025, out of the Portland Winterhawks (WHL).
8. Jack Pridham: F, drafted by Chicago in the third round in 2024, rights now with Tampa Bay, out of the Kitchener Rangers (OHL).

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